Please show me an annual report where those expenditures are classified as “investments”.
Using that logic, pretty much anything a company spends money on to make money is an ‘investment’. Gas, supplies, you name it.
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I disagree. When I was running my own business, nothing I bought that was needed to run the place was an investment. Computers, transmission jack, shop truck, those were all expenses either in fixed overhead or assets to be depreciated.
An investment is something that will grow in value or make you money without further action (other than routine maintenance) from you. Buy a piece of land for $5000. Clear the weeds once a year for 30 years, sell it for $50,000. That’s an investment.
I bought a 3/8” ratchet for $100 in 1993. That ratchet has helped me make a thousand-fold of that price in income over the years. Does that mean the ratchet is an investment? Would it have held or increased in value if I had not used it?
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We make investments in our various business segments all the time by buying things that are expected to yield a return. Otherwise, why would you buy them? From a financial standpoint, those are capital expenses that begin to depreciate the moment they are purchased.
When we pay tuition for our children, it is said to be an investment in their future. We hope that the money spent will yield a better job and more money in the future than if they didn’t go to college.
The term investment just means future gain is expected. You can personally invest in cars or trucks but I have a prediction for you regarding the future…it’s not good 
It’s a gamble. Car prices (even collectables) go up and down all the time.
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Exactly!
Antiques Roadshow sometimes airs retrospective episodes, where they compare the estimated value/sale price of items from 10-20 years ago with the current value/sale price of that item. On a recent episode, they compared 2009 appraisals (when we hadn’t yet emerged from a fairly-deep recession) with 2025 appraisals on the same items.
Surprisingly, while a few items had increased in price, most of the items had a 2025 appraisal that was lower than the 2009 appraisal. The same could hold true for certain vehicles.
Well we use the term loosely. In high school our business instructor spent a little time explaining how most every asset depreciates even though it may increase in value. It’s a bookkeeping thing.
In business though you don’t buy anything unless it will contribute to the profitability of the business. If you need a wrench or machine to contribute to the business, you buy it, even though you you will depreciate it on the books. At some point it may be sold for more than was paid for it, but that’s not relevant. Apples and oranges. And my college business professors agreed with my high school instructor.
I invested in tools 40 years ago. Sometimes I feel like throwing them in the trash, bad investment.
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Your wrenches work as well today as they did the day you bought them, and could be worth more now than the price you paid. That work truck with 300,000 miles, not so much.
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A person could complete a lot of work with the use of a truck, or they might just joy ride around for ten years.
It is possible to deliver meals (Door Dash) on a bus, but it would be better to invest in personal transportation. That might be considered misuse of the word “invest”. One should say, “obtain a depreciating asset for your task”.
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tools and equipment may simply become obsolete even though they are not worn out or fully depreciated. Even if fully depreciated on the books, it may still be usable and no need to replace it.
I took my car to a Bear alignment shop I had used in 1968. The guy was still using the old pads for alignment he used back then. No computers and fully depreciated but still providing utility. Told the story before on why I went to him.
A home improvement person can get buy just carrying around a small tool box with a hammer and a few tools, or they can invest in more and better tools in order to do jobs faster and therefor more in a single day, but those new tools would not all fit in the trunk of there car, so they need to invest in a truck/van in order to carry all the new tools as well as supplies to the jobsite… The tools and vehicle are an investment in his/her expanding company…
Can that do a 4-wheel alignment which many modern cars need these days?
Without telling the story again, four wheel alignment was th3vleast of my concerns at that point. It had already been through the modern computerized alighnment service. Second opinion, but the issue was depreciating assets.
I’ve never seen a business’s annual report class any expenditure as an investment.
Used casually it can be. I’d separate consumables from fixed assets.
Was anything an investment?
That’s a reasonable definition and maybe a correct one for a business class but I don’t think matches real-life usage. I buy shares of United Widget: that’s an investment, right? But if UW doesn’t spend the money on a factory and equipment and wages… I get no return. UW turns my investment into a business that produces widgets. What if I sink all my money into starting my own widget factory - what’s the difference? You’d say it wasn’t an investment.
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Used to back the Corvettes on the rack and align the rear 1st, then turn the 'Vette around and align the front… It was the 4 wheel alignment of the day…
By definition an investment is something that provides a predictable return.
Alternatively, something whos return depends on outside factors is a speculation.
So a Contractor buying a pickup or a Funeral Home buying a Limo or a Specialty Vehicle Rental firm buying a Ferrari for use in their business is an investment.
Alternatively, buying any of the above, including the Ferrari, in the hope that you’ll be able to sell it for more later is a speculation (Gamble) and probably a bad gamble.
The reasons why I consider Classic and Collector cars to be a bad gamble is because you’re incurring significant costs (storage, maintenance, insurance, inflation, etc,) in the hope that your purchase will become more valuable in the future which isn’t predictable and outside your control.
An example was when Cadillac ended production of convertibles and some folks bought them in the expectation of a future gain only to have their hopes dashed a few years later when Cadillac resumed convertible production.
More recently I’ve seen Muscle Cars and Brit. Cars appreciate for years as the Boomers indulged their teenage fantasies but start to decline as we’ve aged out of the market.
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If you store a vehicle on YOUR land in YOUR garage or barn or whatever (depending on location), it does NOT cost to store it, and in some states like TN, you can store a car FREE for as long as you want (must be inside in some city limits)… And what maintenance do you do to a vehicle you are storing away for many years to come?? If it is NOT gonna be moved or driven, then no maintenance is required, I have stored vehicles for over 20 years in various places with $0.00 cost…
Again, it all depends on the state…
My buddy had almost 20 vehicles stored in a field and indoors for almost 30 years with ZERO cost in KY, he is now selling some of them off, I still have a 1973 Road Runner (clone) Big block (street/■■■■■) car I just need to haul back down here and put it back together, also the Power Wagon if I want it (striped down to frame, but all there), it was the 1st real truck my wife ever drove lol…
I agree on the other stuff…
redacted word is s.t.r.i.p… lol
You’re so d.i.r.t.y! 
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A favorite of mine from the early '60s:
There’s no guarantee. The business is anticipating a return on the investment but many businesses fail even after making significant investments in materials or equipment. The level of uncertainty varies but there is always risk in any investment.